Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0018801 (heart failure)
 72,216 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

To determine the prevalence of leg cramps in elderly outpatients and their association any underlying diseases and concomitant drug intake, we conducted a cross-sectional study using an in-depth questionnaire. A total of 365 patients aged 65 years and over (mean 78.5 years) attending our outpatient clinic participated in the study. The prevalence of leg cramps was 50%. Cramps were commoner in females (56%) than in males (40%). Although reported to occur anytime throughout the 24 hours, cramps were most prevalent at night (62%). In many patients, leg cramps were a long-standing complaint: 20% had been suffering with them for more than 10 years, whereas only 9% of patients reported them first starting within the last six months. Only 73 (40%) sufferers had informed their practitioner; of these, 39 (53%) received treatment, of whom 26 gained benefit. Leg cramps were strongly associated with peripheral vascular disease (odds ratio 2.9, 95% CI 1.89-4.55, p < 0.00001), arthritis (odds ratio 2.26, 95% CI 1.48-3.45, p = 0.0001) and female gender (odds ratio 1.96, 95% CI 1.28-3.03, p = 0.002). Heart failure, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and stroke were not significantly associated. Except for a causal association with analgesic use, no positive association could be shown with any other class of drugs, including diuretics.
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PMID:Leg cramps in the elderly: prevalence, drug and disease associations. 1069 32

Hypomagnesemia continues to cause difficult clinical problems, such as significant cardiac arrhythmias where intravenous magnesium therapy can be lifesaving. Nutritional deficiency of magnesium may present with some subtle symptoms such as leg cramps and occasional palpitation. We have investigated dietary-induced magnesium deficiency in rodent models to assess the pathobiology associated with prolonged hypomagnesemia. We found that neuronal sources of the neuropeptide, substance P (SP), contributed to very early prooxidant/proinflammatory changes during Mg deficiency. This neurogenic inflammation is systemic in nature, affecting blood cells, cardiovascular, intestinal, and other tissues, leading to impaired cardiac contractility similar to that seen in patients with heart failure. We have used drugs that block the release of SP from neurons and SP-receptor blockers to prevent some of these pathobiological changes; whereas, blocking SP catabolism enhances inflammation. Our findings emphasize the essential role of this cation in preventing cardiomyopathic changes and intestinal inflammation in a well-studied animal model, and also implicate the need for more appreciation of the potential clinical relevance of optimal magnesium nutrition and therapy.
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PMID:The role of magnesium deficiency in cardiovascular and intestinal inflammation. 2097 97